FG to create 2m jobs in 2012 through Cluster Concept – Prof. Ita Ewa

The Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Ewa yesterday said that about  two million jobs will be delivered to Nigerians through the ministry’s Cluster Concept.

This is aimed at fast-tracking development of rural communities in Nigeria.

Ewa, who disclosed this in Abuja at the 2011 ministerial press briefing, said the Ministry has informed President Goodluck Jonathan on the use of cluster concept in developing our rural communities.

His words: “The Ministry is to forward a Council Memo to the Federal Executive Council for approval. This project will eventually generate at least 2,000,000 jobs in many sectors of the economy, in 2011 and 2012 using the Ministry’s Incubation Programme, Industrial Cluster Programme, Technology Licensing and Technology Franchising.

“Beyond this, potential jobs to be created by the concept on incremental basis will net up to 6 million jobs through mainstream industrial activities and 2 million jobs through backward stream made up of primary producers of, and traders in, raw materials, farm gate processors, small scale miners, transporters of raw materials, providers of primary production inputs.

“Also 18 million jobs are expected downstream made up of distributors, retail traders, exporters of finished products, producers of processing equipment/machines, components and spare parts, maintenance technicians, producers of packaging materials, technical and R&D consultants and business development support services (BDS) providers. To achieve this, the ministry will adopt a phased approach. The jobs will be created along commercialisation lines. The Ministry will launch deliberate strategy to commercialise all the concluded R&D projects in the Ministry and altogether, over 26 million jobs will be created through these and other R&D projects,” he said.

The minister therefore called on investors, private sector operators, conglomerates, commercial and financial institutions to take up these novel outputs from the research institutes so that Nigeria can attain the vision 20:2020, MDGs as well as the Transformation Agenda of this administration.

Ewa charged the research institutes to intensify partnerships with the private sector to commercialise their results, products and services.

The broad objective is to provide investors, financial institutions as well as the diplomatic community an opportunity for close dialogue session, provide for the needed partnership in driving the socio-economic development efforts of Nigeria through guided Research and Development.